Former Secretary Lehman (also ex A-6 BN), hits all the key points…
The bottom line???
Those old attributes of naval leaders willingness to take intelligent calculated risk, self-confidence, even a certain swagger that are invaluable in wartime are the very ones that make them particularly vulnerable in today’s zero-tolerance Navy. The political correctness thought-police, like Inspector Javert in “Les Misérables,” are out to get them and are relentless
A new naval culture of risk aversion has been created. Men and women with the potential of great naval leadership are not the type to accept such an environment, and they are leaving in numbers that will set records when the economy recovers.
Go HERE and read the entire article…
In the military today, time is the commodity and risk is the currency… And “I” for one am afraid they are spending the currency faster than it’s being ameliorated…
Some ‘real’ Navy Leaders…
Nimitz, Halsey, King. None of these gents would have ever made it past LCDR in today’s PC Navy…
That article is all too true. I retired from the Navy in 1994. I got out just in time. I had a blast during the 20 years I was in, but If I had to advise an 18 year old kid on his choice of service, I tell him to go anywhere else except the Navy.
As I think of the people who built the CIA from the bones of the OSS and more to the point, those who built Underwater Demolitions Teams that morphed into today’s SEALs, NONE of that would have been constructed by today’s leadership.
Even if they wanted to, they would have been disabled by upper echelons.
When I attended the 100 anniversary Submariners Ball in Groton, one of the speakers spoke of the complacent leadership in the navy prior to WWII, and how it ill served us at the start of the fight. IIRC he was primarily concerning himself with the sub force, but nonetheless, his point was that new leadership arose in the first year.
We won’t have a year.
It seems to be a natural condition after a major conflict. We fostered “peace” before WWI, went to war, fostered “peace” before WWII and Korea, fostered “peace” before Vietnam and even during it to end it and were pretty much caught flat footed by the GWOT – both at the intel level and our ability to fight. If you look at the officer corps during our build up to Desert Storm, you find where we are headed. When I think of the quality of those officers, I think of Wesley Clark. It seems our institutional memory is short indeed. Another crop of princes is about to ascend and the warriors will be put out to pasture. I pray we can find a new cadre of warriors when out next test is upon us.
Does anyone think the people who need to read this will? Or, if they read it, will understand?
At some future point, we will lose a lot of good people. As Ed B. points out, we won’t have the time this go around.
Ray- Yep, and honestly I wouldn’t recommend ANY service today…
LL- VERY true… Ray Boehm, Patches Watson in today’s Navy???
Ed- True, I’ve seen it with my interactions with the Navy since I retired. Paperpushers/ass kissers got promoted in droves in the 90’s after the wall fell. Thankfully most of them have aged out/been let go. But we have very few real leaders left…
Bill- Well said and concur!!!
WSF- No and no… dammit…
Sad to know that we’ve gone from “Damn the Torpedoes” to “We’re waiting on Orders from the White House…”
The intentional wussification of our armed forces continues apace. Our enemies must be thrilled.
Les- Pretty much, although it ‘may’ get interesting with the new CPF that is getting ready to take over…
Opus- Sadly, you are correct Opus…
I got out in 92 after doing seven. The politics of ass kissing were in full swing so I knew that my time was up.
My chief was more concerned with creating inventory lists than he was keeping birds in the air. My problem came in when I wouldn’t kiss up by getting his blessing on every decision I made as a troubleshooter.
Glad I got out, and I hate saying that because I love the job just not the politics.
Instinct- Yep, not the first to say it, nor will you be the last… sigh
B-in-law was aviator in a EA-6B reserve squadron.
Resigned in the 90s when he saw many aviators “Schroedered” by the Navy. Totally innocent officers forced to resign/retire/reassigned due to false accusations of sexual harassment. Senior officers sacrificed junior officers for the sake of funding.
And those are now “the good old days.”
Stretch- Sadly, yes…